ATTOM released its Year-End 2022 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows foreclosure filings were reported on 324,237 properties in 2022, up 115 percent from 2021 but down 34 percent from 2019, before the pandemic shook up the market.
Foreclosure filings in 2022 also were down 89 percent from a peak of nearly 2.9 million in 2010.
Those 324,237 foreclosure filings in 2022 represented 0.23 percent of all U.S. housing units, up slightly from 0.11 percent in 2021, but down from 0.36 percent in 2019 and down from a peak of 2.23 percent in 2010.
“Eighteen months after the end of the government’s foreclosure moratorium, and with less than 5 percent of the 8.4 million borrowers who entered the CARES Act forbearance program remaining, foreclosure activity remains significantly lower than it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Rick Sharga, executive vice president of market intelligence at ATTOM, said in a release. “It seems clear that government and mortgage industry efforts during the pandemic, coupled with a strong economy, have helped prevent millions of unnecessary foreclosures.”
ATTOM’s year-end foreclosure report includes new data for December 2022, showing there were 30,822 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings, up less than 1 percent from the previous month but up 72 percent year-over-year.
Illinois, Michigan lead states in REOs
Lenders repossessed 42,854 properties through foreclosures (REO) in 2022, up 67 percent from 2021 but down 70 percent from 2019 (143,955) and down 96 percent from a peak of 1,050,500 in 2010.
States that saw the greatest number of REOs in 2022 included Illinois (5,518 REOs); Michigan (3,669 REOs); Pennsylvania (2,741 REOs); New York (2,405 REOs); and California (2,223 REOs).
Metro statistical areas with a population greater than 1 million that saw the greatest number of REOs in 2022 included Chicago (3,545 REOs); Detroit (2,135 REOs); New York (1,656 REOs); St. Louis (1,395 REOs); and Philadelphia (1,302 REOs).
“Unlike foreclosure activity during the Great Recession, the majority of homes in foreclosure are not being repossessed by lenders,” Sharga noted. “Our recent homeowner equity report shows that 93 percent of borrowers in foreclosure today have positive equity, which they appear to be leveraging in order to avoid a foreclosure by refinancing their mortgage or selling the property at a profit. It seems likely that this is a trend that will continue in 2023.”
Lenders started the foreclosure process on 248,170 U.S. properties in 2022, up 169 percent from 2021 but down 26 percent form 2019 and down 88 percent from a peak of 2,139,005 in 2009.
States that saw the greatest number of foreclosure starts in 2022 included California (27,269 foreclosure starts); Texas (23,151); Florida (22,968); Illinois (16,941); and Ohio (13,469);
Counter to the national trend, five states saw an increase in foreclosure starts from 2019. They included Indiana (up 81 percent); Michigan (up 10 percent); Idaho (up 8 percent); Colorado (up 2 percent); and Minnesota (up less than 1 percent).
Metro areas with a population greater than 1 million that saw the greatest number of foreclosure starts in 2022 included New York (15,821 foreclosure starts); Chicago (14,360); Los Angeles (8,185); Philadelphia (7,286); and Miami (7,090).
Illinois, New Jersey and Delaware post highest foreclosure rates
States with the highest foreclosure rates in 2022 were Illinois (0.49 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing); New Jersey (0.45 percent); Delaware (0.40 percent); Ohio (0.38 percent); and South Carolina (0.37 percent).
Rounding out the top 10 were Nevada (0.34 percent); Florida (0.33 percent); Indiana (0.30 percent); Maryland (0.27 percent); and Michigan (0.26 percent).
Cleveland, Jacksonville, and Atlantic City post highest metro foreclosure rates
Among 223 metropolitan statistical areas with a population of at least 200,000, those with the highest foreclosure rates in 2022 were Cleveland (0.70 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing); Jacksonville, N.C. (0.58 percent); Atlantic City, N.J., (0.58 percent); Columbia, S.C. (0.55 percent); and Chicago (0.53 percent).
Metro areas with a population greater than 1 million, including Cleveland and Chicago, that had the highest foreclosure rates in 2022, were Philadelphia (0.43 percent); Las Vegas (0.42 percent); and Jacksonville, Fla. (0.42 percent).
Average time to foreclose decreases
Properties foreclosed in the fourth quarter had been in the foreclosure process an average of 852 days, a 4 percent decrease from the previous quarter and 9 percent decrease year-over-year.
States with the longest average time to foreclose were Hawaii (2,546 days); New Jersey (2,041 days); Louisiana (1,925 days); New York (1,828 days); and Pennsylvania (1,692 days).
There was a total of 90,715 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings in the fourth quarter, down 2 percent from the previous quarter but up 61 percent year-over-year.
Nationwide, one in every 1,549 properties had a foreclosure filing.
States with the highest foreclosure rates were Illinois (one in every 724 housing units with a foreclosure filing); Delaware (one in every 848); New Jersey (one in every 860); South Carolina (one in every 950); and Ohio (one in every 1,035).